Home Our Journal Isabelle & Brad’s Dreamy Southern Highlands Wedding

Isabelle & Brad’s Dreamy Southern Highlands Wedding

Isabelle and Brad's connection is nothing short of beautiful. This is evident in the words Isabelle used to describe love. "Love is moving through life as an individual but experiencing things together. It is treasuring a person's very existence." The mutual love and respect this gorgeous couple share create an unspeakable foundation of trust and security in their relationship and this very connection radiates through the moments captured by Dan O’Day during their wedding at Milton Park Country House, in the Southern Highlands of NSW. We suspect you will fall in love with this couple and wedding as much as we have!

On the proposal

Brad’s proposal was nothing short of simple, heartfelt and on point, finishing with the most perfect ring he had custom-designed by Creations Manuka for Isabelle.

They were house-sitting for a friend and Isabelle was in the bathroom changing ready to lay out by the pool and enjoy her afternoon in the sun. Cue Brad, eager to get her out of the bathroom to ‘show’ her something in the kitchen. With their favourite song faintly playing in the background (and no alarm bells yet from Isabelle), Brad hugged her and started telling Isabelle how much he loved her. Isabelle’s head started buzzing thinking “OMG is he about to…”

“Then he stepped back and dropped down on one knee and pulled out a big white box and asked me to marry him. I was crying so much I couldn’t see the ring! But when I did it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He designed it from scratch and couldn’t have done a better job – it was EXACTLY what I pictured for myself – simple and classic.

I am truly the luckiest girl to have met and now married my partner Brad. He is the most loving, thoughtful and considerate man that showed me everything I wanted and more in a significant other from day 1.
We are the best of friends and have a wonderful life together.”

Read all about our real bride's wedding in this blog. She wore the Bespoke Blake/Melanie wedding dress by Karen Willis Holmes.

On the venue

Brad and Isabelle chose Milton Park Country House Hotel in Bowral NSW (Southern Highlands) after her boss suggested it as a potential location.

“The second we drove up the long driveway and entered what felt like another world with perfect gardens and greenery everywhere we were totally in love!

Neither of us wanted to get married in a church and decided some sort of beautiful garden or estate would be great and Milton Park well and truly ticked that box. As soon as we met with the event planner and realised that we could have the ceremony and reception within metres of each other and have all our guests stay on site, we booked virtually straight away!”

All the styling details

With Milton Park already being a drop-dead GORGEOUS location with so much greenery and blooming flowers, minimal had to be done with the styling to create their vision.

Isabelle would have been one to typically add a bit more colour to her wedding but decided to pair it back and work with the location.

“We decided on white & very light blush blooms (mostly consisting of roses) mixed with bright greenery. We were so happy with this decision in the end as the ceremony & reception locations looked divine. I was particularly in love with mine and my bridesmaids’ bouquets that looked as though they’d been freshly picked from a garden and not too ‘perfect’.”

Isabelle’s florals are by Clementine Posy.

The Dress

Isabelle chose the Blake/Melanie combination gown from our BESPOKE collection.

A friend with impeccable taste recommended her to visit our flagship boutique in Alexandria. Isabelle fell in love with our simple designs and could picture herself wearing KWH on her big day.

Click HERE to book an appointment.

“Apart from its flattering shape and gorgeous satin finish, the pockets were the absolute best! I kept my phone, lipstick, mirror and mints in them for the reception which was so handy…”

Accessorising

Isabelle was an absolute vision, wearing her hair in the style that she loves the most, by the only hairdresser that knows exactly what she wants every time – Anthony. Bouncy, elegant waves framed by our cathedral Lucienne veil.

Isabelle’s earrings were elegant gold and pearl drops with a Mimco bracelet and a pair of Tony Bianco heels gifted by her mother in law.

Bridesmaids wore champagne coloured dresses by Shona Joy.

Gown hunting tips

“I would say be open to trying on lots of different styles even if you know exactly what you want, as you might surprise yourself! My bridesmaid picked up the bodice and skirt for my dress and asked me to try it and I was initially hesitant as I thought I wanted lacy, but gosh am I glad she suggested it – as soon as I put it on I fell head over heels in love!”

What does love mean to you?

To me, love is one of the most special and exciting things in the world to experience.
It is an overwhelming affection and deep respect for another person. Acceptance of them as they are, flaws and all.

Suppliers:

Photographer – Dan O’Day Photography

Dan shot one of my best friend’s weddings a few years back and the pictures were so magnificent.
I can honestly say I love every single photo in our collection. He truly captured every beautiful, teary, funny and special moment – looking through them makes me SO happy (particularly my mother deciding to get on a table and dance after many champagnes haha!)

Event Planner- Nil.

We wanted to plan everything ourselves and opted for no event planner or stylist. We had such a ball researching then selecting everything for the day.

Florist – Clementine Posy

I found Clementine Posy through Milton Park’s Instagram a few months after we booked the venue.
Their experience with the venue and just general talent for putting together the most beautiful arrangements made it an easy choice once we confirmed they were available. They were so easy to work with and excellent to communicate with via email. We were so in love with all our flowers and would recommend them to
anyone planning a wedding in the same area.

Hair – Anthony from RJ’s Hair Queanbeyan (@rjshair)

Anthony from RJ’s Hair has been my hairdresser for a little over 4 years and has always done the most natural and beautiful work on my hair. I am constantly asked where I get it done! This made it an easy choice for me deciding who would do my hair. For the day I wanted my hair my favourite way – out with bouncy beautiful curls. He absolutely nailed this look and despite it raining shortly after the ceremony (thankfully I was undercover) it stayed intact beautifully!

Make up – Caitie Kenzie

I have trouble finding makeup artists that paint my face the way I love it – natural, bronzy and glowy.
I met Caitie when she did my makeup for a girlfriends Hens party a few years back and she absolutely nailed this look – I felt so gorgeous! She replicated this for my wedding day, and I couldn’t have been happier with the result. I felt my most beautiful!

Music – Steve Amosa

Steve sings at many of the local venues in Canberra and Brad and I heard him a random Sunday afternoon last year and decided to enquire as we hadn’t yet heard anyone we loved or fit our music style. Steve and his daughter sang for most of our reception, then out came a DJ and all the music was fantastic!
I have never danced so much in my life!

Celebrant – Sue Jackman

How do I begin to describe Sue! We met with several celebrants and whilst we didn’t expect to be best friends with them, we wanted to feel great vibes and just didn’t find that. Sue was recommended to us by a family friend and she was an absolute hoot! We felt so comfortable and laughed our heads off at our first meeting.

Stationery – Zazzle

I found this wonderful website after researching online and it had such a wide range of wedding collection suites that had everything we needed – save the dates, engagement invites, wedding invites, menus etc.
Everything was completely customisable online from fonts to paper type and thickness. They arrived from the USA quicker than I expected and were beautiful.

Cake & Bombonieres (individually stamped cookies) – Cake Arcade

Catherine from Cake Arcade was so wonderful to work with. The cake was delicious, light, not too sweet and was exactly as I had imagined.

Wedding Bands – Creations Manuka

I couldn’t be more in love with my gorgeous engagement ring that Brad designed with the team at Creations Manuka. They are a local Canberra business and my family have known one of the owners since I was a child so that made it more personal and special.

Brad selected a brushed finish platinum wedding band and I picked a simple gold band that was identical to my engagement ring band – they go perfectly together.